Why I’m Loving My MAM Experience at Yale SOM
Emelyn Venturini Piñon ’19 reflects on the recent West Coast Job Trek she led last December, traveling with Yale SOM MBA and fellow MAM students.
The most important factor in why I’m truly loving my experience at Yale SOM is the amount of resources and opportunities that the school offers to help students pursue their dreams. You can get involved and actively participate in anything you want, whether you have experience in it, or it pertains to a field or industry you want to pivot into. In my own case, I knew I was pivoting after completing my MBA at IE Business School because I had found a new passion for the tech industry. With this newfound career discovery, I came to Yale to pursue the Master of Advanced Management program with the goal of immersing myself in the tech industry through electives, clubs, and networking.
I worked my way into a leadership position on the student-run Tech Club, and with this role came the opportunity to lead the annual Yale SOM West Coast Job Trek along with my awesome Tech Club team of first-year MBA students. My initial expectation of visiting companies was that I would come away with a better understanding of the firms we visited, the cultures, the roles within each one, and my potential fit. This expectation was surpassed when I encountered such great and attentive hosts at each company, who took a sincere interest in our cross-country trip and had impressive panelists and presentations ready for us. Scheduling 60-plus company visits and having the opportunity to see the cities, locations, and work environments of a potential job was very valuable, as we will probably spend more time at work than anywhere else post-MBA or MAM. Most visits featured Yale SOM hosts or panelists who truly cared about giving back to the community by scheduling additional chats and connecting us to other people within their teams who share similar career paths. We also had MAM alumni hosting us and representing the degree impressively, always willing to help a fellow MAM. I was able to form real job leads and visit startups and companies that completely surprised me and made me reconsider the characteristics I’m looking for in a company.
During the Job Trek we Tech Club leaders got to do an Instagram takeover of the Yale SOM account, showcasing the trip and all the company visits. It was a really fun experience that certainly involved a lot of pressure, as the account has almost 20,000 followers. Overall, we hope the Instagram takeover captured people’s attention and piqued their interest in next year’s trek, and also allowed everyone to connect with and gain insights from the students who participated. If I had to pick one takeaway from the West Coast Job Trek as an MAM student, it was the awesome opportunity to get to connect on a more personal level with the 100-plus SOM students who will be the future business leaders of the world.
